


Melting Winters, Freezing Summers

by voidofwriting



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Blizzards & Snowstorms, Dream Smp, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kinda, based on fundy's apocalypse gamemode, i dont actually know how to tag, i really like the idea of phil adopting all the teenage boys on the server, someone help me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28456383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voidofwriting/pseuds/voidofwriting
Summary: Fundy had really fucked up this time.He'd been messing around with the code (harmless, really!) when it had glitched, plunging the entire world into a deadly winter storm.But, to make matters worse, the teenagers are all missing.And they're probably stuck out in the snow.God, Phil was going to die of stress.
Relationships: Grayson | Purpled & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), No romance here - Relationship, None, Ranboo & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Toby Smith | Tubbo & Phil Watson, TommyInnit & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), just family bonds :)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 416





	Melting Winters, Freezing Summers

**Author's Note:**

> hi! i wrote this just for fun, a while ago. i started it before tommy's whole exile arc lmao. i wasnt sure if i was ever going to post it, but i decided to because i still really like it! i just... really like the idea of phil being a father to all the teenagers on the server, god knows they (character wise) really need it.  
> I hope you enjoy!
> 
> oh, also- its divided up in little sections, where it switches pov. some of them are pretty short. sorry!

Fundy had really fucked up this time.

Snow was falling faster than he could even begin typing in the code to stop it, and the cold was seeping into his fingers. This wasn’t supposed to happen- he wasn’t supposed to be able to mess with this server’s code! It should have been impossible, the code he had been typing was just for practice, to look over and make sure he’d gotten it right before heading over to his personal server. It wasn’t supposed to activate!

“Fundy!”

The door to his “secret” base slammed open, cold wind rushing in along with a familiar man in a green hoodie. “What the fuck did you do?”

“I don’t know!” he cried, frantically typing. Nothing was working, not even his kill codes. Those  _ alway _ s worked. They were the last resort. “I think it's glitched!”

Dream cursed, running over to Fundy. “We have to stop it.”

“What do you think I’m doing!”

“We need to find George and Sam- and Tubbo, they can help, this is an all hands on deck type deal.”

Fundy looked at him, appalled. “We can’t go out there!”

“We have to,” Dream snapped, “or else everyone will  _ die _ .”

~~~

Tubbo had been hard at work on New L’manberg when the freak snowstorm hit.

At first, it had been wondrous. Snow? It wasn’t supposed to snow, what was going on?

He dropped his pickaxe, letting it clang down onto the rocky ground as he held out his hands. Snowflakes fell down onto them, and he laughed.

“Tubbo?”

Quackity came out of his house and leaned over the railing with wide eyes. “Is it snowing?”

“Big Q! It’s snowing!” Tubbo called back, spinning around with a laugh.

“How is it snowing?”

“I have no idea!”

Big Q shivered, rubbing his arms. It was getting cold, which made sense, snow couldn’t fall if it was warm. Tubbo wasn’t cold yet, the thick coat of his president’s suit protecting him from the chill.

“Maybe we should head inside, it’s getting cold and those clouds don’t sit right with me.”

The clouds were a bit strange looking,Tubbo noticed. Huge and dark and looming. There wasn’t a single break where he could see the sky.

Still, he shook his head.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine! Besides, I wanted to mine out some more of the tunnel here.” He gestured to the entrance to his old “secret” base, which was covered in rubble.

“If you’re sure,” Quackity said nervously. Tubbo nodded with a grin.

“See you soon Big Q!”

He picked up his pickaxe, quickly getting back to work. The cold air was kinda nice, he wasn’t sweating anymore like he had been.

Tubbo was so focused on his mining that he didn’t notice the snow start to pick up. He’d made it into the tunnel itself, so there was a roof over his head, the snow just piling up at the entrance. Blocking his only exit.

His pickaxe snapped in his hands, and Tubbo frowned. He hadn’t realised the durability was so low. Oh well. He had another one in his chest. (The jungle base was really good for getting cheap diamond tools.)

But… something was wrong. The closer he got to the entrance, the darker it got. It couldn’t be night already, could it? His frown deepened, and he pulled his sword out of its sheath.

He rounded the corner and stopped in his tracks, a choked whine escaping him. His sword clattered to the ground and he ran forward, falling to his knees. The entrance was completely blocked by snow.

Tubbo was trapped.

~~~

The snow had picked up a lot faster than any of them had expected.

Purpled had been visiting Ponk and Alyssa in Citrus City, hanging out and trading some goods. Things were still a little tense between them- Ponk and Alyssa were still primarily neutral, but Purpled had allied himself with New L’manberg. (Something he was still getting used to. He’d been alone for so long that seeing people all the time was kinda overwhelming.) So they’d traded, and talked for like seven minutes before the combination of awkwardness and falling snow drove Purpled to smile and take his leave.

He’d been in the forest when the snow had started falling thicker and faster. It had already been coating the ground, but now it was piling up.

Purpled fiddled with his communicator, wondering if he should call someone to come get him. He was still pretty far from anywhere, and the snow didn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon.

He decided not to. Everyone else was probably busy, and he didn’t want to risk anyone else getting lost in the snow. 

(Because Purpled was lost, he’d realised. The thick blanket of white snow made everything look the same and it really didn’t help that he was in the most unremarkable part of the woods.)

Logically if he just kept going he’d make it somewhere eventually. But Purpled also knew that getting turned around was a huge possibility in this weather. A huge,  _ deadly _ possibility.

He started shivering then, almost like the world was teasing him. His purple hoodie was  _ really _ not meant for this kind of weather.

Purpled stuck his communicator back in his pocket. He’d be fine. He just needed something to keep warm- a campfire would work.

He didn’t have any coal. Purpled cursed, pulling up his hood so snowflakes would stop falling in his hair. Okay. Okay, he could find a small cave. That would probably be a good plan anyway, shelter and that was a good idea in weather like this.

He stopped to quickly chop down some trees. The snow was somehow even thicker now, in a way that couldn’t possibly be natural. Purpled pushed down an uneasy feeling.

But… maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to call someone. At the very least, he’d have some company while he waited out the storm, even if it was just through call.

Decision made, he pulled out his communicator and dialed Tubbo. (A few weeks ago, Punz would have been his number one choice, but they hadn’t spoken since Purpled had joined L’manberg. Opposite sides and all that- Purpled understood. (That was a lie. Purpled didn’t see why they couldn’t still be friends. Punz had been like his older brother, and he’d just dropped him the second their views didn’t align.))

The communicator beeped once, an error message flashing across the screen.

Purpled blinked.

He tried again- another error message.

“What…?” Purpled whispered. Panic was starting to creep up his throat. He clicked off Tubbo’s name, clicking on Tommy, Philza, Quackity- he even tried Dream. None of them worked.

Communicators  _ always _ worked. Nothing was able to mess with them, nothing could jam the signal. Something was  _ seriously _ wrong.

~~~

Ranboo had seen snow before, of course. Half of the "games" in his old world had involved snow in some way or another, whether that be snowballs (that you could use to throw people off of the dangerous sky islands), ice (slippery, and to avoid at all costs- way too easy to slide off an edge), or just the faint powder that coated the ground beneath your feet and made everything cold to the touch. He’d seen snow.

But he’d never seen anything like this.

He hissed as another huge clump of snow fell from a branch onto the ground in front of him. Everything was white, and bright, and to be honest it was  _ killing _ his eyes. He was already feeling cold and out of place- he’d had to take off his crown because of how cold the metal had gotten.

What a day for him to have gone out. If only he’d stuck to Phil’s original idea and just stayed with him and Fundy. But Tommy’s idea seemed like a lot of fun, and he was pretty sure Fundy had ended up leaving too.

Speaking of Tommy though…

Ranboo glanced around again, but he couldn’t see the blond anywhere through the falling snow. He frowned, kicking some snow. (It would have been more satisfying if it were a rock or something, but Ranboo didn’t even know how he’d begin finding one in snow this deep.)

He’d never liked snow. Snowballs were annoying, and they hurt, and the rest was just awful. 

He didn’t think he’d like it any better after this was all over.

“Tommy!” he called, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Tommy!”

There was no response other than the roaring wind.

Where could Tommy have gone? Surely he wasn’t too far, they’d just been together. They were… They were going to…

Not for the first time, Ranboo cursed his awful short term memory. (Phil said it was because of too many void deaths in a short amount of time, but to be honest Ranboo really didn’t know.)

“Tommy!” he called again, deciding to ignore his forgetfulness for the moment. He could come back to it later. 

He winced as a particularly cold wind blew over him. Suits were  _ not _ designed for cold weather.

Tommy was nowhere to be found. Ranboo wasn’t sure what to do, he wasn’t even sure he knew where they were. Not to mention the endless white surrounding him…

“-boo?!”

He jerked back to attention at the faint sound of another voice. Someone else was there!

He couldn’t see them, but he remembered what direction it had come from. Walking was too dangerous- there were all kinds of ways he could get lost or hurt. He took a deep breath, focusing on the warmth vibrating inside his chest. He’d only be able to do this once, and it would  _ severely _ drain him, but he needed to get to Tommy

Ranboo closed his eyes and teleported.

“HOLY SHIT!”

He landed face first in the snow, shivering. He needed to get up, but it felt like he couldn’t move, none of his limbs were working. It was cold in the snow.

“Ranboo???”

A hand- Tommy’s hand, his barely functioning brain reminded him- grabbed his shoulder and rolled him over. He sucked in a relieved breath of air.

“Holy shit dude, did you teleport? I didn’t know you could do that!”

“Can’t- really-” he choked out. “It’s- hard… not meant- to. Part- enderman.”

Tommy’s eyes lit up as it clicked, and he helped Ranboo up, slinging the taller teen’s arm over his shoulder.

“We need to find shelter,” Tommy muttered, more to himself than anything. Ranboo just shivered. Even more, bigger snowflakes had started falling, and it was only getting colder.

He squinted, trying to spot anything in the snow. Tommy was practically dragging him, and he wanted to be helpful in  _ some _ way.

Nothing, nothing, nothing… there. A dark opening in the ground, nearly covered by snow.

“Over there-” he said, “A- cave… But we’ll- we’ll be- trapped.”

Tommy thought for a second, then turned to where Ranboo limply pointed. “We can’t stay in the open, we’ll freeze. We can set up camp and dig out once the storm blows over.”

Ranboo hummed. It wasn’t- it wasn’t a bad idea.

It just wasn’t a good idea either.

But they didn’t exactly have another plan.

Into the cave they went.

~~~

It took almost two full days for the combined force of Fundy, Dream, George, and Sam to get the snow to stop falling. They couldn’t do anything about the snow that was already there, they’d have to let that melt naturally, but it shouldn’t take too long with how warm the weather usually was. Dream still couldn’t help but worry about his friends (despite all the wars and everything, they were still his friends), so he decided to check on them all. The communicators weren’t working- he’d need to fix that, that could be dangerous- so he was headed in person to all their bases

The four coders had holed themselves up in the community house. Dream took great pleasure in breaking down the barriers they’d thrown up, but he stopped in his tracks at the sight outside.

The lake was frozen over, snow piled up on top. On the path, it was at least knee-high, probably even higher in some spots. Sam whistled, coming to stand beside him.

“That’s a  _ lot _ of snow. For once I’m glad I’ll be travelling in the Nether.” He laughed a little, and Dream realised that if he left now they probably wouldn’t see Sam again until the snow cleared up. They had gotten lucky that he had been in town when it started.

“You can stay here until the snow melts,” he offered.

Sam smiled, but shook his head. “Thanks, but I need to get home and check on my pets. And I think you’ve got your work cut out for you anyway.”

Dream grinned behind his mask. “It was good to see you Sam.”

“You too.”

Sam dipped his head, then went back into the house. Fundy replaced him, frowning out at the snow.

“I need to get back to L’manberg,” he said softly. “Make sure everyone’s okay.”

“I’ll go with you, I was planning on checking on everyone anyway.”

Fundy’s tail swished back and forth, and he nodded. Dream reached out and settled a hand on his shoulder.

“It wasn’t your fault,” he promised. Fundy growled and pushed his hand off.

“Yes it is,” he snapped. “I was the one messing with the code, I-”

“Did you cause it to glitch?” Dream interrupted him, slightly raising his voice. “Did you want this to happen?”

“Of course not!”

“Then it’s not your fault.”

Fundy stopped, uncertainty flickering across his expression. Dream sighed.

“Fundy, I promise nothing that happened was your fault. It was the server fucking up. If anything, it's my fault for not securing the code properly.” He sighed again, looking back out at the snow. “We should get going.”

“Yeah.” Fundy blinked, snapping out of it. “Yeah, we should.”

The walk to New L’manberg was tense and quiet. Fundy trailed behind, struggling to move through the tall snow. Even Dream was struggling- snow was difficult to move through no matter how agile you were.

Three figures were waiting for them on the main raised platform, dressed in thick coats and hats and standing on the snow. (Well, except for one, who was floating and dressed in the same thing as always.)

Ghostbur shot up from where he was hovering idly. “Fundy!”

He flew over, cupping his face in his gray hands. “You’re back! See Phil, I told you he’d be okay!”

Phil still looked worried. “Was Tubbo with you? Tommy? Ranboo?”

Dream blinked. “Are they not here?”

The elder frantically shook his head. “They went out before the storm hit.” Fundy sucked in a breath.

“Oh my god, what if they’re hurt? We need to find them, they’ve been missing for more than three days and-”

“We’ll find them,” Dream promised, cutting him off with a raised hand. He looked out at the snow covered landscape, his heart sinking. “We’ll find them.”

~~~

There was something wrong with Ranboo.

Tommy didn't know what to do. He wasn't waking up, and he didn't know how to help- he'd already given Ranboo his jacket (Wilbur's old coat, technically, but Tommy had adopted it after he'd died), and he'd filled the little hole they were in with torches. He didn't know how long they'd been stuck there. The cave had been good at first, but  _ tons _ of monsters had come for them, and Tommy had had to dig a hidey hole in the wall. They'd been trapped ever since. Tommy could still hear the mobs pacing outside, they barely had any supplies, and Ranboo was in no shape to fight. (If anything, he was deadweight, but there was no way in hell Tommy would leave him behind.)

He just… He wasn’t sure what to do.

At least Ranboo was still shivering, even slightly. Things would be a lot worse if he wasn’t.

Tommy shivered, wrapping his hands around himself. The torches provided some warmth, but not a lot, and it was only getting colder.

Their communicators weren’t working. Honestly, Tommy wouldn’t be surprised if they’d frozen over.

He hoped someone found them before they did too.

~~~

It was just their luck that Purpled was missing too. His house outside of L’manberg was completely empty, and it was obvious he hadn’t been there in several days. Phil fed his dogs while Dream asked around.

(The last time he’d been seen was just before the snowstorm, when he’d left Ponk’s.)

Now there were four teenagers missing, lost somewhere in the snow covered wilderness. (Phil refused to acknowledge the mental voice whispering that they could be dead.)

“So Purpled’s probably in the forest,” Dream said, coming up behind him, a map in his hands. “There are several caves he could have gone in for shelter. Quackity said he last saw Tubbo in L’manberg- but obviously he’s not here… Do you have any ideas where Ranboo or Tommy could be?”

Phil shrugged helplessly. “The forest somewhere? I have no idea.”

He felt like such a shit father, all four of the teenagers he’d basically adopted were missing, and he hadn’t even noticed. He hadn’t known.

“So, do you think we should search the forest first?”

He nodded. “Yes, but split up in groups of two or three, we’ll cover more ground. I’ll go with Ghostbur and start outside Ponk’s base. You can direct everyone else.”

Dream nodded back. “Sounds good.” Phil turned to leave, but Dream called out, stopping him. “Philza? We’ll find them, I promise.”

They had to.

~~~

The campfire was nearly burnt out.

Honestly, Purpled wasn’t sure how it had lasted this long- he’d been carefully rationing the fuel, but now he was out of wood.

He’d ducked into a cave when the snow hadn’t let up. (A decision he was kind of regretting now, because the cave’s entrance had been snowed over, meaning he was completely trapped.)

There could be another exit though. That’s what Purpled was counting on, and he was going to search once the warmth was gone. The movement would keep him at least a little warm.

As if it was listening to his thoughts, the fire spluttered and went out. He sighed, grabbing his sword and tightening his fingers around the handle. There were probably tons of monsters- the cave hadn’t been explored, so there weren’t any torches.

Purpled had never liked caves to begin with.

He moved cautiously down the tunnel, sword out in front of him, drawing back on memories of days of bedwars, listening carefully for any sounds…

There. A zombie. No, two- three, and… a skeleton?

Purpled frowned. That was a lot of monsters for an empty cave. Something had to be drawing them there.

He had to check it out.

He came out into a cavern, a snow-blocked exit on one side and a trickle of (frozen) water on the other. And… there. Two blocks of cobblestone in the wall, no doubt protecting someone from the many mobs milling around outside. Purpled took a deep breath and got to work.

~~~

Something was happening outside. Tommy held his breath, wondering if he should dig out and help. But then Ranboo shifted slightly, curling in closer to himself, and Tommy pulled him closer to his side. No, he needed to stay put, Ranboo needed his body heat.

Hope panged through his chest as more monsters were taken down. Maybe it was someone who could help, someone who could get them out…

It took Tommy a second to realise that the sound of mobs was gone.

“Help!” he called out, a little quietly, his voice rusty, and he startled- how long had they been in there? “Help!”

The top cobblestone crumbled, and Tommy nearly sobbed in relief.

“Tommy?”

Purpled’s (it was Purpled, he could help, he always could) head poked into the empty space. His eyes shot wide at the sight of the two of them. “Ranboo??”

"Something's wrong with him, I don't know what to do-" Tommy said, feeling frantic and oddly like he was about to cry. He was tired, and all he wanted to do was lay down beside Ranboo and fall asleep, but something was telling him that he needed to stay awake.

Purpled broke the other cobblestone, rushing in and kneeling beside Ranboo's still form. "Holy shit, he's ice cold. How long has he been like this?"

Tommy shrugged, shivering. His head felt... unfocused. "Since we... got here." God, he really wanted to sleep.

Purpled sucked in a breath through his teeth, then exhaled, the sound whistling through the chilled air. "Okay," he said. "Okay, okay, okay. We need to- we need to try and start digging out.”

Tommy whined audibly, and even Purpled looked pained at his own suggestion.

He just wanted to rest…

Tommy looked over at Ranboo again, closing his eyes and steeling his nerves. They had to get him help. (And help for them too, if he was being honest. None of them were doing too hot.)

"Okay," he said after a second, hauling himself to his feet. "Let's do this."

~~~

“Tommy! Tommy!” Ghostbur called, floating through the trees. Phil followed behind him at a slower pace, having to struggle through the tall snow. “Where are you, child?”

“Ranboo! Purpled! Tubbo!” Phil shouted. His voice was starting to go hoarse. They’d been searching for a while now, to no avail. It seemed as if the teens had vanished off the face of the world.

Phil squinted, raising his hand to try and block the sun. It was almost sunset, and the light reflecting off the snow was creating a terrible glare.

He hoped the others were having better luck. He couldn’t believe the boys had been out here for days.

“Phil!” Ghostbur appeared beside him, shouting basically in his ear. He jumped.

“Jesus motherfuck Will!” He wondered if that was what a heart attack felt like- no wonder he had gray hair.

Ghostbur smiled at him, flying at a weird angle. It almost looked like he was upside down, or like he was about to do a flip. Phil wished he would just stand normally.

“I found a hole!”

Phil blinked, furrowing his brow. “A hole?”

“Yup!” Ghostbur nodded happily. “And there’s something inside!”

“Why didn’t you start with that?!”

He took off in the direction Ghostbur had come from, worry and panic clenching his heart. It could be his boys…

There was indeed a hole. It was small, and almost completely covered in snow, but it was there. The area behind the snow looked large and dark… a cave perhaps? Phil bit his lip, moving closer. The thing Ghostbur saw could have been one of the boys, but it also could have been an animal, or monsters. He had hope, though.

The cave was completely silent. Phil frowned, taking out his shovel and digging a space wide enough for him to fit through.

It seemed like it was a normal cave, at first glance. But there was light coming from an opening in the wall. He tucked away his shovel and unsheathed his sword, just in case. (You could never be too careful.)

He noticed three things very quickly:

  1. The little room was small, barely big enough for two people.
  2. Mostly burnt out torches covered every inch of available surface they could.
  3. Three of his boys were laying there in a pile, asleep and very, very still.



His sword dropped to the cave floor with a loud clang.

~~~

To be completely honest, Tubbo wasn’t sure what was going on.

He’d managed to squeeze his way through the rubble and make it to his old base, where he had a bed with several blankets, so at least he wasn’t too cold, but Tubbo hated being trapped down here. There wasn’t any way to escape, he was stuck, and it reminded him- it reminded him-

_ “Schlatt?” _

_ Walls had been put up around him, made of yellow concrete, trapping him in place. He couldn’t move, could only grab onto the fence post in front of him as Schlatt called Technoblade up to the podium, his crossbow slung across his back- _

Tubbo shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut and willing the bad memories away. Everything was fine, he was safe, Schlatt was gone-

He was fine. He was fine. He was fine.

He didn’t know how to get out. He only had an iron shovel, and it was almost broken, it wouldn’t be any help to dig up the snow. He’d thought about going to Pogtopia, but the tunnel had collapsed farther down and he couldn’t get through.

No, Tubbo was well and completely trapped.

He wrapped the thick blanket closer around his shoulders, burrowing into the warmth. He was fine. The snow would melt eventually, and he was sure someone would come for him soon.

He just had to… wait it out.

He could do that. He’d be fine, he just had to wait.

Tubbo was good at waiting.

~~~

The sword dropped to the cave floor with a loud clang, and Purpled shot awake. He hissed in pain, clutching at his side with one hand. The other was trapped underneath Tommy, and he winced. He couldn’t really move. 

What had happened? He remembered finding Tommy and Ranboo (who were both asleep by his side in a huddle of body heat), and starting to clear the snow away, but… everything went blurry after that.

It got cold. And he and Tommy had already been tired, and Purpled was injured, and eventually it had gotten to be too much and they’d gone back to Ranboo…

They must have fallen asleep. (Duh. Two of them were still asleep, his brain wasn’t working as well as it usually did.)

Someone called his name in a strained, pained voice, and Purpled struggled to put a name to it, and to focus his blurry eyes enough to see  _ who _ it was.

Blond hair, a green hat, gray wings…

“Phil,” he said in a raspy voice.

In what seemed like and instant, Phil was crouching beside him. One of his hands grabbed his, and the other went to Tommy, brushing his hair out of his face.

“What happened? Are you okay?”

Now  _ that _ was a loaded question.

“I don’t think Ranboo’s okay… Tommy said he’s been asleep the whole time.” His words felt disjointed and muddled, but he was pretty sure he got his point across. “And my side’s hurt.”

A zombie had gotten him before he could kill it, scratching him. It wasn’t  _ too _ bad, but he hadn’t even tried patching it up before he’d passed out, which was a big no for wounds. Infections and all that.

“Can I see?” Phil asked, infinitely patient. Purpled blinked, then blinked again. He shifted, trying not to hit Tommy or Ranboo, and lifted his hoodie so Phil could assess the damage. Judging by his gasp, it probably wasn’t good.

“We need to get you three back home.”

Purpled sighed, and (quickly and carefully) pulled his arm out from underneath Tommy. The blond rolled a little, but didn’t wake. That was good. Purpled didn’t want to wake him.  
He struggled to his feet, hand clutching at his side. Phil scrambled up too, his wings flaring and hitting the walls. Purpled winced. There was no way that was comfortable.

“I can help Tommy if you carry Ranboo,” he offered, even though his vision was blurry at the edges and he was 95% sure he was going to throw up within the next ten minutes.

Phil was shaking his head before he was even done speaking. “No way mate, you need help too.”

“Well I don’t see anyone else here,” Purpled snapped, his head pounding.

“Hello? Phil?”

As if on cue, Ghostbur’s echoey voice floated through the cave.

“We’re in here Will!” Phil shouted back. Purpled quickly shushed him, checking to see if Tommy or Ranboo had woken up. (They hadn’t.)

Ghostbur floated through the “door”, his eyes lighting up at the sight of them. “Oh! You found them!” Phil nodded.

“Yup, and now we need to get back to L’manberg. Do you think you could carry-”

“Tommy,” Purpled interrupted. Ghostbur could carry things despite being dead, but he was always cold, and Ranboo needed warmth a bit more than the youngest right now.

Phil nodded in agreement. “Yes, do you think you could carry Tommy back to L’manberg?”

“Okay!” Ghostbur said, practically beaming. It dropped a little as he looked closer. “Why’s he sleeping?”

“He needed energy, it’s just a quick nap,” Phil replied, bending to carefully scoop Ranboo into his arms. Ghostbur smiled again, doing the same to Tommy.

Purpled almost couldn’t believe they were getting out of that god forsaken cave. It felt like ages since he’s seen anything other than the stupid stone walls.

_ I’m never going mining again _ , he decided.

It was night outside, and there was still so much snow. Purpled could tell that was not going to be fun to struggle through. He almost envied Ghostbur at that moment, he could  _ fly _ . He didn’t have to struggle for like five minutes with each step.

Phil frowned at the sky. His wings fanned out, curling slightly around Purpled, probably unconsciously. 

“We’ll have to be quick so there’s less of a chance we run into monsters… if we head left we’ll get to Ponk’s base. We can just take the path from there.”

“Sounds good,” Purpled said. He really didn’t want to see any monsters, none of them were really in any condition to fight.

(If he had to though, he could. He’d fought with worse injuries and worse odds, and he’d come out on top.)

Ghostbur led the way, making sure their path was clear, Tommy fast asleep in his arms. Purpled was next, and Phil took up the rear.

Each step felt like a hundred, his head and side pounding with each movement. But at the same time, it was like he blinked and they were there, standing on L’manberg’s central platform.

The other search parties had been back for a while, it seemed. All Phil had to do was call out, and suddenly there were people surrounding them on all sides. Purpled smiled as Tommy got handed off to Quackity (who shouted with mild alarm when he felt how cold the boy was), glad that they could finally rest without fear.

The world started to tilt underneath him, and Purpled barely felt as someone grabbed him before he could collapse completely, shouting for help.

No, he was safe now, and everything was going to be fine.

~~~

His enderchest was empty.

Tubbo frowned, slamming the lid closed probably a little more forcefully than what was necessary. Of course it was fucking empty, he’d just been working on draining the ocean the other day. He had hoped there might have been some iron, or diamonds, or  _ something _ , but nope, he was completely out of luck. (And that was just his luck, wasn’t it.)

He groaned, collapsing back onto the bed. That idea had just been a waste of materials. He grabbed his communicator again, marking that plan off his list. (He was glad at least  _ that _ function was working.)

Nothing. That was all he had, a whole lot of nothing.

He just wanted to leave.

~~~

“Was there no sign of Tubbo at all?”

“None.” Dream sighed, resting his head in his hands. “No one saw him, and it's not safe to go out again until morning.”

Phil frowned. “We can’t just abandon him.”

“We’re not! George, Fundy, and me are gonna try and fix the communicators tonight so we can contact him. None of us want him out there any longer than he was to be.”

Neither bothered to say that it had already been longer than it should have been.

Phil sighed, slumping against the wall. He’d come outside to wait, Bad had said his worry was “making it too difficult to work.” Phil thought that was utter bullshit, but he’d complied, because Bad was the best healer and he wanted the boys to be okay.

But now he was just waiting, unable to sleep or even do  _ anything _ . He wanted to be out looking for Tubbo, but Dream had demanded they all stay put- and even he wasn’t about to go against the server admin.

Dream got up, brushing snow off his jeans.

“Let me know when they wake up,” he said. Phil nodded, and, in a flash, the admin was gone.

He leaned back, looking up at the stars. Not for the first time, he wished Techno was there. He’d know what to do.

The door to his house opened, and Phil shot to his feet. It was Bad, a frown on his face. Phil’s heart sunk.

“Tommy’s awake. He seems fine, just tired. Purpled has a small fever that we’ll need to keep an eye on, and he’s exhausted. I-” Bad cut himself off, frowning down at the ground. “I can’t figure out what’s wrong with Ranboo. Physically he’s fine, and we’re warming him up, but he’s just no waking up. I’m not sure what to do,” Bad admitted, frustration clear in his tone.

Phil swallowed. “Bad, you’re doing great,” he promised. “Seriously, I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t been here.”

Bad just hummed, stepping further outside. “You can go see them, if you’d like.”

Phil had barely muttered another thank you before he was inside, watching as Tommy chatted to a hovering Ghostbur.

Tommy’s eyes drifted over to Phil, and he grinned, sitting up straighter in the bed. He was covered in several thick blankets, and he looked a little pale, Phil noted.

“Philza Minecraft!”

“Hey mate.” He came over and sat on the end of the bed. Ghostbur scooted over some. Phil glanced around the temporary healing center set up in his house. The boy’s beds were all set up beside each other, with Tommy on the end closest to the door, Ranboo in the middle, and Purpled on the far end. They looked peaceful, much more so than when he’d found them. “How ya feeling?”

Tommy waved off his question, shaking his head. “No, no, we’re not here to talk about boring stuff Big P.” Phil frowned, and Tommy rolled his eyes. “If you must know, I feel like shit. But! That’s not important!”

“I think that’s pretty important,” Phil said. He wondered if he should call Bad back in.

“It’s not! I think the important thing is HOW THE FUCK IT’S SNOWING, IT’S LIKE JUNE!!”

Phil winced at Tommy’s volume, quickly checking if the other two had woken. Nope. They were still passed out. He heaved a mental sigh of relief.

Tommy was scowling at him when he turned back. Phil sighed. (He didn’t really want to deal with this.)

“Well, I don’t know exactly, but the code glitched,” he said. Tommy rolled his eyes.

“Of course DREAM messed up, the green bastard.”

Phil chuckled, shaking his head fondly. Tommy would be Tommy.

The house grew quiet, the only sound Ghostbur’s low humming. Phil stretched his wings, rustling the feathers. Tommy was nodding off again. Phil smiled, and Ghostbur drifted away, rummaging through Phil’s chests. (He’d have to deal with that later, Ghostbur had a habit of just… taking whatever he wanted.)

“Go back to sleep Tommy,” he said softly, reaching over and carding a hand through his hair. Tommy yawned, leaning into his touch.

“Will you wake me up when you find Tubbo?” he muttered sleepily, and Phil froze.

“Yeah,” he said after a second, “Of course.”

Ghostbur was back outside, handing some blue to Bad. Phil smiled as he passed them, nodding slightly. He was really grateful to Bad, really grateful his boys were okay. They were going to be okay.

But…

Tubbo was still out there, somewhere. Probably lost, and cold, alone.

He went looking for Dream.

~~~

Tubbo’s throat was dry. His head hurt, aching with the remembrance of pain. Still, he didn’t make any move to leave the bed.

Shadows danced across the walls of his familiar bunker, big and  _ horned _ and dangerous. His hand gripped his side under his shirt, feeling the raised skin of his scars. A permanent reminder of a day he didn’t think he’d ever forget.

(Had  _ he _ come to finish the job?)

Tubbo closed his eyes, trying to get his breathing back under control. Schlatt was dead. He’d died of a heart attack, and, unlike Wilbur, he hadn’t come back as a ghost. (Something Tubbo was infinitely grateful for.)

He really needed to get up, at the very least to get some water. He couldn’t make his legs move.

All of a sudden, his communicator started ringing.

Tubbo’s eyes shot wide open, and he scrambled to grab it, nearly dropping it on the floor in his rush. He hadn’t realised they’d started working again-

“Hello?” he said, his voice small, quiet, but hopeful. There was rustling on the other side, then Dream’s voice came through. 

“Tubbo? Are you okay? Where are you?”

He nearly sobbed. It was Dream, it really was, he could- he could.

He could get out of here.

“I’m in- I’m in my bunker. Under L’manberg, I got trapped in by the snow.” He fiddled nervously with the edge of his blanket, running his fingers along the frayed edges and gently tugging at the strings.

There was a loud shout from the communicator, and Tubbo jumped. “He was  _ there _ the whole time?!” Something slammed, and Dream’s quiet voice returned.

“Sorry about that.”  
He swallowed nervously. “Who- who was that?”

Tubbo could practically hear Dream’s grin as he chuckled. “Phil. I can’t believe you’ve literally been right under us for so long.” His voice turned serious, losing that joking edge. “We’ve been really worried.”

He let the blanket fall, hanging off the edge of the bed once again. “It’s okay. It’s warm down here, and I have supplies.”

Dream hummed. “Maybe, but you shouldn’t have had to be alone.”

That…

Tubbo paused, biting his lip and blinking back tears. God, why was Dream being so nice?

“We’ll get you out soon, I’m sure Phil’s already on his way.” He laughed again, short and wheezy. Tubbo felt himself smiling too, even as he was crying.

“Is everyone else okay?”

“...For the most part.”

“...What does that mean?” Tubbo asked, not sure if he really wanted to know the answer or not.

Dream sighed loudly. “You’ll see when you’re out.”

Tubbo hummed, standing. He could meet Phil at the entrance, maybe help him clear away some of the snow. At least then he’d be doing something other than just sitting.

The hallway was long, cold, and empty. But as Tubbo glanced down it, he remembered another time, with thick shoes and loud voices making him lead them to the tunnel’s end.

“...Dream?” His voice was quiet, and he swallowed, trying to make himself sound normal. “Can you… stay on call? Please?”

“Of course.” Dream answered instantly. “You don’t have to be alone again.”

(That helped calm Tubbo more than he’d ever admit.)

It took no time at all for the combined force of Philza, Quackity, and George to dig through the snow. Phil wrapped Tubbo in a warm hug the second he saw him, and Tubbo was only a little ashamed to admit that he sniffled.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Phil muttered into his hair, still tightly wrapped in the hug. “Tommy’s been worried.”

Tubbo sniffled, raising his head. “He has?”

Phil chuckled. “Of course he has.” He let go, stepping back from the hug. Tubbo was a little sad to see him go.

A hand settled on his shoulder, making him jump slightly. Quackity grinned at him sheepishly, removing his hand and rubbing the back of his neck.

“Next time, let’s go inside, yeah?” Quackity said with a small grin. Tubbo bit back a laugh.

“Let’s hope there’s not a next time.”

Big Q laughed, and Tubbo joined in.

~~~

“Tommy!”

“Tubbo!”

The two collided in a hug, Tubbo tripping over his own feet and landing sprawled across Tommy’s bed. Tommy didn’t hesitate in falling with him, laughter bubbling up in his throat. Purpled glanced over at them with a smile, curled up in a chair. He’d moved there basically as soon as he’d woken up, only pausing to say hi to Tommy and devour a bowl of soup.

Tommy sat up and leveled a glare at Purpled. “What, not gonna join us?”

Purpled hesitated. “Bad said I shouldn’t…”

“Bad’s not here! They’re outside being boring or some shit,” Tommy said, waving a hand.

Purpled looked at the door again, but grinned, hopping up and joining Tommy and Tubbo in laying on the bed. The ceiling was nice, surprisingly. There were little stickers and glow in the dark stars plastered in random spots. Ghostbur had probably stuck them up there, some were in really hard to reach spots.

For a while, there was peaceful quiet (only broken by the occasional giggle). 

A quiet question changed that.

“When do you think he’ll wake up?”

All three boys stilled as they looked over at Ranboo, who was still asleep.

“Dunno,” Tommy said. “Bad said it was like a coma, they just don’t know what’s causing it. I reckon it was the teleporting.”

“Teleporting?!” The other two exclaimed. Tommy blinked.

“Did I not tell you? Ranboo straight up teleported like a full fucking enderman. It was cool as shit!”

“No you didn’t tell us!” Purpled nearly shouted, but luckily his voice was quiet enough that the adults didn’t come running in. (They were nice, but also WAYYYY too overbearing.)

Tubbo huffed. “You’ve gotta tell Bad and Phil! Tommy! That’s the kind of info you tell right away!”

Tommy rolled his eyes. “Sorry I was too busy being unconscious!” 

“At least we know now,” Purpled chimed in, ever the mediator. Tubbo was quick to nod in agreement.

“Yeah! That’s-”

He was interrupted by a low groan.

~~~

Ranboo cracked his eyes open, being instantly bombarded with light. Oh, nope nope nope. Not doing that. He squeezed them closed again, groaning.

He felt tired. Everything was heavy, but… He wasn’t cold anymore.

_ Tommy _ .

Ranboo jolted up, scanning the room. It was familiar… Phil’s. He was in Phil’s house. How- How did he get here?

The last thing he remembered was pointing out the cave to Tommy. He couldn’t remember anything else. That wasn’t right. Even his faulty memory should recall  _ something _ , why was there  _ nothing _ ?

“Ranboo!”

A familiar voice broke through his panic, grabbing his hand and rubbing small circles onto his palm.

“It’s okay. Everything’s okay.”

His vision started to clear, as did the fog in his mind. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “T-Tubbo?”

Tubbo grinned at him. “Ranboo! You’re awake!”

Something about the way he said that made him suspicious.

Ranboo frowned. “How long was I out?”

Complete silence from the other… three, he noticed with a small jolt of surprise. Tommy and Purpled were there too.

“...You’ve been out there for a while, dude,” Purpled said. He reached up and ran a hand through his hair. (Probably trying to distract himself.) “Bad said-”

“Bad said it was a coma, but that’s fucking stupid,” Tommy interrupted.

Ranboo blinked. “A coma?”

He nodded excitedly. “Because you teleported!”

All the color drained out of his face. “I teleported?” he asked, praying his hands weren’t shaking. Oh god, they were going to ask questions and he wouldn’t know how to answer, wouldn’t know what to do. He stilled, trying to mentally prepare himself for the inevitable onslaught.

But to his surprise, no one said anything. Tubbo just patted the empty space on the other bed, and invitation.

Ranboo unclenched his hands, lowering the blanket that was on him. (It was fluffy and warm and purple, and he was sad to see it go.)

“If you want to,” Tubbo whispered, and Ranboo smiled.

~~~

And if Phil came back hours later to see them all there?

He simply draped a blanket over them and left, a fond smile on his face.


End file.
